Miitopia: Zero to Hero
by DomesticatedPiggy
Summary: Katelynn is a typical mii adventurer. Or at least she was... When Miitopia is threatened by the Dark Lord, it's up to her and her friends to defeat them and bring peace back to Miitopia. Basically a retelling of the game with some twists. Rated K plus for some darker themes. Title has no affiliation with the Disney song, I just like the name.
1. Chapter 1 : Introduction

**Miitopia is a world where every Mii can live in peace and harmony. Or I should say...it was.**

 **One day, it came without warning. A great and terrible shadow threatening Miitopia. The Dark Lord made off with the people's faces! And what's worse, those faces then appeared on the monsters they conjured!**

 **But fear not, people of Miitopia. For a hero will come forth and save this fair land. Or I am not doing my** _ **job**_ **as a guardian spirit, ho ho ho.**

* * *

I'm just a simple traveller, minding my own business, do do do do.~" Katelynn sang a strange diddy to herself.

Katelynn was wandering wherever the wind took her. And right now that happened to be somewhere in the middle of who knows where. She'd been travelling and staying at free inns for as long as she could remember. It was her way of life by now.

She stopped and yawned, not because she was tired. But because she had the pleasure of being able to do so. She was completely content with her life as nothing more than an average mii. And she hoped nothing would ever change.

"Another peaceful day!" She exclaimed to herself cheerfully.

Suddenly, she spotted something peculiar in the sky.

"What the frick?" She asked herself. She had a habit of talking out loud to herself since there was hardly ever anyone else around to talk to.

A pair of disembodied eyes was just...floating there. Right in front of her. In mid-air. It headed towards a small group of butterflies and BAM! Attached itself to the butterfly's wings with something like a flex.

Katelynn was incredibly weirded out. She already hated bugs and had been planning to avoid those butterflies in the first place. But this just set her disgust levels off the charts.

"Go away! Bug...thing..." She shooed it with both her hands. However, this just caught the insect monster's attention and it began to flutter towards her.

"No! Please...you're disgusting and...AAAAAAAAAAH!" She ran away screaming in the other direction in pure, unadultered panic.

She stopped only after she finally realized the impulsiveness of her decision to run away.

She looked around, lost. "Where am I?" She wondered aloud.

At least the butterfly was out of sight, but she had no idea where she was-oh wait!

She spotted a nearby town almost immediately after starting to worry. "Teehee! I'm such an air-head sometimes!" She laughed at herself. Though she was still troubled by the butterfly.

10 minutes later...

Katelynn talked to everyone in town and tried to warn them about the monster.

 **Homer (the carefree guide): Hahahaha, you're hilarious! Greenhorne's a pretty great place you know. Much better than Springfield! No kids...no naggy wife and best of all, no kids!**

 **Toriel (the cheery granny): My child, you must smile more. You are safe here in Greenhorne.**

 **Dr Eggman (cheeky child): Yay! Sonic sucks! He should totally curl up in a ball and diiiiiiiiie!**

 **Inkling (worried mother): Woomy! I mean... stop it, Dr. Eggman! Calm down or you'll hurt yourself! Oh, an adventurer. Please excuse me. My child has a hyperactive imagination. He believes in an imaginary friend named Sonic. And he makes me call him Dr because he wants to be an evil scientist when he grows up. Children these days...**

 **Minion and Rabbid (lovey-dovey couple): *They both just made a bunch of weird, annoying sounds together.***

 **Donald T. (sarky bloke): What? Why are you talking to me like you're my type of woman?** (Eww.) **My father gave me a small loan of a million coins and I'm going to be the next mayor. And I'm going to build a wall to keep immigrants out and I'll make Neksdor pay for it.**

...But they almost all either thought she was crazy (especially when she told them how disgusting the bug monster had been) or were too caught up in other things. Typical, happy-go-lucky miis she supposed. Without one care in the world.

"Fine then!" She muttered under her breath, "Let them all get eradicated by butterflies then!"

She was about to leave from the other side of town, when she almost bumped into someone.

"Hi there adventurer! I'm the mayor of this town, Spongebob! I know everyone in town and they're all worth talking to! Have you met them yet?" He greeted cheerfully.

"Yes." Katelynn said simply, then explained about the monster to Spongebob. Leaving out the part about it being a butterfly this time, which, unbeknownst to her, might have actually convinced him.

"Greenhorne's a nice town! There's no monsters! Dayiyaayayayayayayayyaayay!" He laughed annoyingly.

Suddenly, a dark shadow loomed over the town. Everyone made some exclamation of their surprise. And as its form was revealed, they all gasped in terror.

* * *

 **Author's note: So, that was the first chapter! :) I'm going to be writing this as I go so you guys should comment on who you want the dark lord to be. And please favorite, follow and review if you enjoyed it so far!**

 **Edit: Also, I forgot to mention that besides all the other references, there was a reference to that one Spongebob episode with the scary butterfly, so that's why I said it might've actually convinced him. xD**


	2. Chapter 2 : The Dark Lord Menace

"WAAAAA HA HA HA!" The newly revealed figure laughed menacingly. "I am the Dark Lord, WAAAALUIGI!"

 _'Well, that escalated quickly.'_

"I've come to wreak havoc and terror on this miserable little waaaaaorld!" Waluigi said.

 _'I'm finding it hard to take him seriously when he says 'waaa' all the time.'_ Katelynn thought, clearly not impressed.

"And I'm starting with you guys! Time to taste true fear!" As if to contradict that thought, Waluigi made his intent to harm them very clear.

"Say waaaa to your faces!"

Katelynn's eyes widened as, with a quick motion towards himself, Waluigi began to _pull_ the faces of the villagers around her off their very heads, with some unseen force.

Katelynn snapped out of her stupor as she heard a sudden shriek, the first of many, and saw the carefree guide, Homer, watching the kindly Toriel's face being taken away. That is, before his face was promptly removed as well.

Next, she spectated as the worried Inkling mother cried out for her poor, most-likely innocent (albeit _slightly_ ambitious) child, Dr Eggman's face which was floating away as well.

Not so horrified this time, she also noticed the annoying couple being broken up as the Rabbid maiden's face was stolen.

Almost a little relieved this time, she watched as Donald T's face went too.

All in all though, it was an absolutely horrifying experience. And the worst thing for her was, she could only sit and watch as this went on. She wished she could do something, anything to help. But she was too scared. Too weak. She was just a typical mii adventurer with no skills of any sort, how could she?

Luckily though, the Dark Lord decided to stop there. She wondered why, and again, as if to address this thought and with stolen faces now in tow, he spoke up once more.

"Hmmph! This will do very nicely for now! You faceless freaks can enjoy your life of wordless terror from now on, because that's all you're getting!" He declared, in an obvious attempt to shred all their leftover hope. _'Mmm...leftovers.'_ Katelynn thought randomly.

"And those of you who've been spared," He continued, suddenly looking Katelynn straight in the eyes, thoroughly spooking her enough to get her head out of the clouds. "Take a nice long look at your poor little friends! And despair! WAAA HA HA!"

And with a twirl of his robe, he teleported away. Katelynn did not know what to do, but she had not given up hope. If she had seen the butterfly with a mii face before, she knew it was possible she'd be able to find their faces again, but... did she have the courage?

She was about to leave town, solo as she was, when the Inkling mother ran up to her.

"Adventurer! I beg of you! Please help my Eggman!" She seemed on the verge of panic, but she was trying to stay strong, for her son's sake. Katleynn was touched. And in that moment of kindness, she knew she couldn't refuse the call for help. She would find Eggman's face at the very least. Or lose her's trying.

"I-I'll try my best." Katelynn said with not a moment more of hesitation.

"Oh...thank you ever so much!" The mother seemed to fumble with her pocket. "Please, take this! It's our family's good-luck charm." And with that, she handed Katelynn an antique looking amulet with a closed eye on it.

"I can't take this, it's probably super expens-" Katelynn began to answer back, making a pushing gesture with her hands, but the mother, far past worried, grabbed her hand and closed it over the charm.

"No, no, I insist. It's the least I can do if you'll save my son." She said desperately. And that was the end of that. Katelynn, enamoured by the amulet, put it around her neck.

"I fear the Dark Lord still lurks nearby." The mother started again. "Could you maybe take a look around outside town first?"

Having accepted the mother's request, Katelynn nodded and departed at once _. 'No time for formalities.'_ She thought to herself as she promptly walked out of the once peaceful town of Greenhorne, never once looking back.

* * *

 **Author's Note: Sorry I took so long to update! I had to think of a Dark Lord as well as work on my other stories and that took...quite a while!**

 **Guest** **who reviewed - Yeah, I figured it'd be more interesting if I use a lot of characters that people know. :D**


	3. Chapter 3 : Faceoff

Katelynn continued her trek without further incident up until the town was barely visible anymore. She was walking when suddenly, the Dark Lord, Waluigi appeared out of nowhere before her.

"WA HA HA! Is there truly someone naive enough to oppose the great WAAAALUIGI?!"

Katelynn gulped, then gathered her courage, "G-give Eggman's face back and stop being so evil, you jerk!" She said, waving a fist in defiance.

"You WAAAnt this old thing?" Walugi said, flaunting Eggman's face just out of Katelynn's reach.

Katelynn nodded, unable to muster the will to speak anymore.

"Hrmmm...Perhaps I will return this one to _you_. But you'll have to earn it." He poofed a slimy... ball of... well, slime into existence.

"How skilled are you in combat?" The Dark Lord inquired with a menacing sneer as he stuck Eggman's face on it, finishing the creation of a slime monster.

"Eeep!" Katelynn was once again mortified. She couldn't even fight a butterfly, let alone this slimy abomination.

"Farewell for now! Wahaha! If you survive, that is!" And so, he levitated into the sky and evaporated once more.

 _'Oh what horrors I have brought upon myself! What will I do now?'_ Katelynn thought to herself. And as the slime was about to jump on her, she trembled in fear. Then, the amulet began to glow. In a flash, it had appeared before her, leaving its spot around her neck. Then, it transported her to some sort of ethereal plain.

A voice emanated from the sky in this plain, **"Katelynn...Katelynn, can you hear me?"**

"I...um..." Katelynn squeaked in shock.

 **"Ho ho! It does seem like you're hearing me... What good fortune this is! Now you may not believe this, but I am...a sort of Guardian Spirit from beyond your realm of existence. Woo!~ Spoooky!"**

"Say whaaaaaaat!" Katelynn exclaimed.

 **"Very amusing Katelynn. But please, just hear me out."** The guardian spirit said.

Katelynn nodded.

 **"It seems you are in a bit of trouble. Would you like a bit of help?"**

"Heck yes." Katelynn stated, having calmed down a little, she assumed a determined expression once more.

 **"Ho ho, excellent, excellent! I, er, bestoweth upon thee the awesome power of the guardian! Hurgh...ha!"**

Suddenly, Katelynn felt as though she had become informed about something called a job! She still didn't know what was meant _**by**_ it however.

 **"Yes, your job is your key to defeating monsters!"** The guardian spirit continued, voicing her thoughts.

"So if I work a dead-end job at a grocery store...I can beat up bad guys?" Katelynn stated randomly.

 **"No, my good girl! Jobs determine your role in battle! Some are tailored more towards fighting, while others are more suited for healing."**

"Oh." Katelynn agreed that that sounded like it made...a little more sense.

 **"Here! Just... look at this!"** The guardian spirit exclaimed somewhat exasperatedly.

Suddenly, a holographic screen appeared in front of Katelynn with the names of some jobs on it. Katelynn found that by pressing on each job, she could see more details about each one.

After much consideration, Katelynn decided she wanted to be a superhero, fighting crime for the sake of justice and all that is- oh, that's not a job that's listed here, is it? Um... better just go with the mage then. Katelynn touched the mage icon and confirmed this is what she wanted and voila! With a flash, she was turned into a mage! She now had a blue witch's hat and a robe and wand to match it.

"Wowie!" Katelynn exclaimed, examining herself.

 **"Ho ho! This is just what you need to deal with Walugi's fiendishness!"**

 _ **'**_ _Is "fiendishness" even a word?'_ Katelynn wondered.

 **"Now fight, O Katelynn! Make your enemies rue the day they crossed your path!"**

 _'That was kinda dark,'_ Katelynn thought to herself. And with that, she was transported back to her world.

The Eggman-slime was now in front of her again, though it no longer looked as menacing.

"You look like some delicious gelatin!" Katelynn yelled randomly. "Imma eat you later!"

And with that, she engaged the slime monster in combat.

 **Turn 1. Katelynn started the battle with an attempt to use magic...to no avail. The most she could get to come out of her wand, when attempting to use fire magic, was a few sparks.**

 **After her first feeble attempt to fight it, the slime went up to her and headbutted her in the face. It didn't really hurt, but her face was a bit sticky afterwards. She licked her lips. It really did taste delicious.**

 **Turn 2. Katelynn ran up to the slime now, -useless stick in hand- and somewhat roughly bonked it on the head a few times. The slime reacted with a slightly bothered and shocked expression. Katelynn backed off.**

 **The slime came up to Katelynn and headbutted her again a little more roughly, but it was practically useless against her and only made her more hungry.**

 **Turn 3. Katelynn just wanted to get this over with, so, feeling a little sorry for it, she bashed her wand against the slime with brute force until it had crumbled into pieces, effectively ending the battle.**

After the battle, Katelynn watched as Eggman's face flew off, presumably back to its owner. She then put some bits of Slime Jelly into a jar she had in her bag, What? An adventurer's gotta eat!

With a triumphant cry of, "Oof! That was...kinda easy actually!" Katelynn fell to the ground in a heap, attempting to take a rest.

Suddenly, she again heard the voice from before coming from her necklace.


	4. Chapter 4 : Budding Hero

**"Excellent work, young Katelynn!"** The guardian spirit praised.

"Thanks a bunch!" Katelynn replied cheerfully in return.

The trip had most certainly been worth the hassle. She had actually successfully gotten Eggman's face back! And she sincerely hoped he was doing well right now.

 **"Now that child should be safe! Ho ho! Things are looking up!"** The guardian spirit continued.

"Haha, yeah! I was just thinking about that!" Katelynn exclaimed cheerfully. "Wait... C-can you read my th-thoughts?!" She suddenly burst out in an extremely jumbled, ditzy manner.

 **"Ho ho ho. Nevermind that. Now, return to Greenhorne town."**

Katelynn was a tad worried about her privacy for a moment there, but decided to do just that. The guardian spirit hadn't seemed malicious in any way...and who was she to question a higher power who had saved her and given her some superpowers, -or well, magical abilities- anyway?

And the ability to get free jelly for herself just (literally) sweetened the deal of course!

She spent the short trip to town with her head high in the clouds, blissfully unaware of her surroundings, as was usual for an air-headed person of her calibre. She was mostly thinking of how convenient life would be if she could master her magic. Little things like peeling an HP banana would be made so much easier!

She arrived back in town to find Eggman's face floating in the air, awaiting her return. It now flew back to its original owner and fastened itself to his head.

"Bwah?" The aspiring mad scientist kid burst out. Then, with his usual childlike energy, he exclaimed, "Yippee, I'm back!"

"Oh my poor sweet son! I never got to tell you that you were adop-nevermind it can wait until you're older!" The Inkling mother faltered, though her relieved smile still shone through. (Katelynn's eyes widened in bewilderment at that initial statement however.)

"Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" The inkling mother continued her doting.

"I'm fine!" Eggman assured her.

"Oh thank heavens! And thank _you_ , kind traveller!" The inkling mother gratefully projected. "Here's a thank-you gift!"

She gave Katelynn another gift, real money this time. Or well, gold coins. Katelynn stuffed it in her bag with the rest of her money. (The slime monster had had some gold inside it as well, which she'd also taken while gathering the slime jelly.)

She now moved to leave town, feeling relieved, but also saddened by the fact that she couldn't do more to help.

"That's your newfound Katelynn-sense! Oh great, that sounds like a superhero thing too. Something to do with a Spidermii..." She mumbled to herself flippantly as usual.

But she had forgotten she wasn't alone this time. A light shone before her and she was brought to the same ethereal plane as before.

She assumed the guardian spirit wanted to speak to her in private again.

 **"Katelynn. I have another task for you."** The guardian spirit said.

"Really? Is this to pay you back for saving me?" She wondered aloud.

 **"No..."**

 **"But Katelynn, you have seen the deeds of the Dark Lord, Waluigi. He's made quite the mess and that's...just one more reason he isn't making it into Smash Bros as a playable fighter, I say."** The guardian spirit said in a serious tone, then continued, **"And so I must ask you to vanquish the Dark Lord Waluigi."**

"Wait, so are you saying I can refuse?"

 **"Well unfortunately you have no say in the matter. You do owe me for saving you from that mon-oh I see what you were getting at. But anyway, these powers should help you to contend with Waluigi. And you really do owe me!"**

"Heh. So you want me to nerf him back to assist trophy level, so to speak?" She paused, barely thinking about it, knowing in her heart it was the right decision. "Okay, I'll do it, I guess." Katelynn replied lazily, with half-lidded eyes and an odd smile, which seemed to be halfway between cringing and actual joy at having found a purpose.

 **"Excellent! Now, go after the Dark Lord, Katelynn the air-headed mage! I expect great things from you! Almost as great as from me. Hohoho!**

After she was returned to her own realm, Katelynn decided to speak a few words to the mayor about her plans to retrieve the rest of the town's lost faces before leaving; Her intent being, to give him hope for the town's salvation.

However, even after her longish explanation and confident(ish) assurances that she would retrieve the stolen faces, Mayor Spongebob reacted in a manner that could only be described as...lackadaisical. (Okay, that's a pretty weird word, honestly...but it definitely suits the way he acted!)

He _merely_ gave her a _single, measly_ HP banana and, with only his typical cheerful smile and a simple, "Good Luck!" he sent her on her way. She hadn't been expecting money or anything, but she felt like he would've given her...something more to part with, if he had truly believed in her.

Katelynn left town feeling she was walking a lonely road. The only one she had ever known, of course. But due to her newfound purpose, she had no idea where it'd go, and her train of thought began to stray towards the darker, unused tracks of her mind...railroad.

Katelynn's aloofness had usually kept her entertained and happy, but she felt very alone as she walked towards Easin Hills. However, before her negative thoughts could get any worse, she-

"AHHHHHHHHH WHAT THE FRICK!"

-found she was facing her personal worst nightmare.

...That's right. A bug. And not just any bug. A pink wing-flapping atrocity of nature. A...butterfly. (Of course, it was actually a Rock Moth, but Katelynn did not care about the specifics.)

 **Turn 1: Katelynn swished her wand through the air, but failed to actually hit the rock moth.**

 **It then flew up to her and spewed a sticky liquid on her face. Butterfly honey. Some of it got in her mouth and Katelynn thought it tasted sweet. Disgustingly so. Especially since she knew where it came from. That just made it all the more revolting.**

 **Turn 2: Stunned and disgusted by the acrid butterfly honey on her face, Katelynn sought only revenge on the horrible bug-beast. She saw red, and pictured it burning in the firey flames of...somewhere hot.**

 **A small flame emerged from her wand at this feeling of intense wrath and enveloped the butterfly. It was a big enough fire that the Rock Moth cooked nicely and the butterfly honey probably caramelized a bit, but small enough that it also probably suffered for a bit before perishing.**

The Rock Moth turned to ash as Katelynn snapped out of her vengeful stupor and the eyes it had had flew off to who knows where. Noticing what she had done and feeling only slightly bad for it, Katelynn realized she had learned fire magic and had also faced her worst fear. She felt the fire in her heart brighten a little at that too. The guardian spirit spoke up now, from her pendant.

 **"Ho ho! Well done, Katelynn! Whoever lost that face has you to thank for freeing it! Although you were somewhat frightening back there..." The guardian spirit trailed off.**

 **"All the same, defeating monsters helps people get their faces back! So keep defeating monsters and help as many people as you can! Can you do that for me, Katelynn?"**

* * *

 _ **Author's note:**_ **_So, I didn't know if I should have this AN at the end or not, but I mean, I think it's better at the end, honestly. xD Don't have much to say, so I'll be replying to the reviews now!_**

 ** _GaoGod - Thank you for your feedback! You know, I don't think I could come up with THAT many OCs for the story anyway. xD So I'll definitely be using these well known characters with only a few OCs in between, hehe._**

 ** _Marrowfrost - Thank you for your feedback/criticism! Like I said to GaoGod, I'll mostly use well-known characters in the rest of the story too. :3 Your story sounds like a lot of hard work must have gone into the creation of all those characters, I may check it out! (Don't hold me to that though because I haven't read all that much fanfiction lately in general.) You're most certainly right about the paragraph/sentence spacing issue, I will try to keep that in mind!_**


	5. Chapter 5 : A Cry for Help

The guardian spirit did not wait for a reply and Katelynn would not have been able to give one, not right away anyway. Katelynn, only just now seemed to be fully processing the enormous task she had been assigned. To not only defeat the Dark Lord, but to rescue the rest of the captured faces as well. This was no laughing matter for our normally aloof hero, however.

Instead, she felt sad, scared and rather alone. She was wandering her more unexplored areas of emotion again. Not just her's, but other people's well being and very _ways of life_ were at stake here. When they were faceless, they not only were powerless, they also no longer had any control over what they were doing as monsters and had lost all sense of self.

She wouldn't wish that fate on any mii. And..no matter what, she knew she couldn't give up on her quest. Still, she wished the guardian spirit had chosen someone...more capable.

As she continued to walk further along in Easin Hills, her confidence was at an all time low and she was even starting to despair. She hoped the guardian spirit couldn't see her like this. But then, she found herself in an even worse situation. Two rock moths had emerged out of nowhere, blocking both her sides.

In her current depressed state, Katelynn was unable to muster even a smidge of her previous anger at the creatures. Granted, she tried to summon her fire magic, but nothing came to her except for panic. She was now beginning to have a panic attack as the two monsters approached her. 'Looks like "our hero's" in trouble again.' She thought to herself somewhat sarcastically, ableit also sadly, even in her haze of panic. She curled up on the ground and trembled in fear.

"I can't do this..." She whispered to herself.

Suddenly, a familiar light radiated from her pendant, as it flew from around its spot on her neck, to right in front of her.

 **"Ho ho! Looks like you're having a tough time there...champ.'"** The guardian spirit boomed, sounding more hesitant near the end of that sentence.

Katelynn, in her haze of tears, found herself being temporarily teleported again. To the same odd place, the place she referred to in her mind, as the ethereal plane, where they could talk in private. It was oddly peaceful here, now that she thought of it. The guardian spirit had probably brought her now here to give her extra time. To temporarily escape the rock moths, she presumed. She always had to return to the same spot eventually though. To Miitopia and its woes...

 **"Erm...Are you alright, Katelynn? You seem somewhat down. Not very like you, is this this? Ho ho ho!"**

"..." Katelynn didn't respond. She felt genuinely bad right now. She didn't blame the guardian spirit for that, but she kinda doubted they really cared about...her mental well being. Still, she didn't blame them. She was supposed to be a brave hero after all. That was her job, even above her actual "job" as a mage. And she wanted to be one, she really did want to help. But instead, she was here being selfish.

She suddenly wiped her tears and began to get up, composing herself, _steeling_ herself...when the guardian spirit spoke up again, oddly serious. They sounded strange and solemn, without all the laughter.

 **"Listen Katelynn, the road of a hero is never easy. You will face many enemies and even with your newfound power, it will be difficult at times to perservere throughout it all..."**

 **"However, you must never lose sight of what is important. You may lose everything else, but...as long as you keep that kindness in your heart, you will find the courage to see your goal through."**

 **"I see it now. I used to believe you were rather simple-minded, aloof and frankly, air-headed with some smaller sense of justice... But now, I can tell you truly seek the well-being of others and that you are indeed...kind."**

"Thanks," Katelynn smiled now. A smaller, more timid smile than usual, but a genuine smile, all the same. The guardian spirit understood what she was going through to some extent and _was_ trying to help her, she now knew for sure. And she was sure of her goal now too. She would do whatever it took to be a hero, if it meant she could help others and stop the Dark Lord. She now gave a nod of confirmation that she was ready and the guardian spirit approved.

 **"Ho ho! That's the spirit! Now go forth, Katelynn, the kind mage!"** And with that she was sent back to her own world. The amulet was back around her neck as well.

The rock moths were also before her again. Luckily, the guardian spirit spoke up again, saying, **"I was looking for someone to help you out earlier, so now help is on the way! Amicus, amici, AMIGO! (Good thing I didn't say Avicii.)"**

In a flash, someone new appeared on the scene. "How did I get here?" the newcomer with hot pink hair said. She was wearing a white nurse outfit and holding a basic healing staff in one hand. "I was just at the Pokemon center, wasn't I?.. And I don't have any Pokémon on me, but I have this staff. Does this mean I'm a cleric now? Oh well, I don't mind being dragged along in whatever this is, if it's for healing others... at least I won't be overshadowed by my cousins and look-alike relatives anymore."

She suddenly looked over at Katelynn, "Hello there! I'm Nurse Joy!"

"Katelynn," said girl replied promptly.

"I feel like I have a purpose in being here. How can I help you-erm...Do you need some help?" Nurse Joy rephrased her question to sound less like a professional and more like she was genuinely concerned.

Katelynn simply nodded with a small smile, just as the monster moths came closer and initiated the battle.

 **Turn 1: Nurse joy slammed her staff on rock moth A's wing and it cringed a little. But her attack was so weak that it didn't do much damage. Then, the moth flew up to her and secreted honey onto her face. Nurse joy was baffled, but mostly unhurt, and she muttered, while glancing at Katelynn, "So that's why _your_ face looked so sticky..."**

 **Turn 2: Katelynn, knowing how disgusting the butterfly honey was, felt newfound anger for her new ally and mustered up some fire magic, burning the A butterfly to a crisp and freeing the first pair of eyes from it. It couldn't fly away from her line of fire, since its wing had actually been damaged by Nurse Joy's initial attack.**

 **Turn 3: Nurse Joy was distracted for a moment by something, so Katelynn took it upon herself to attack the next insect (rock moth B) again, even knowing she probably couldn't take it down fully with one shot. The first time she'd fought a rock moth, she'd been lucky the circumstances were in her favor. It had attacked _her_ personally and she'd been alone so it'd been easier to create fire out of her distressed anger. **

**Now, she was glancing over at Nurse Joy, who seemed to be entranced and... licking her face free of the honey-goop and seeing her pleased expression made it harder to attack the butterfly with full force. She was about to try anyway, when Nurse Joy told her to wait.**

"I know Pokémon well, and that pink Butterfree seems to be petrified in fear of what happened to its friend! Katelynn, this is our chance!" Nurse Joy exclaimed, with eyes wide open in excitement. She looked almost...psychotic.

"Why did you stop me then?" Katelynn asked, a question mark appearing over her head.

"I think you've misunderstood me... This is our chance! To get more of that delicious honey!" Nurse Joy clarified with a cheery, albeit _hungry_ grin. Katelynn was shocked, since she personally found the honey disgusting, but to each their own, she supposed. At least they were both being practical and thinking about food. Miis couldn't really become obese anyway after all. Except maybe in Wii Fit, she'd heard.

"Alright... Here's a jar." Katelynn pulled one out of her adventurer's bag and Nurse Joy gratefully took it. The poor bug, unable to do much now except splurt honey in fear, continued to do so. And Nurse Joy caught every drop. After a while, the bug began to look faint and fall closer to the ground. Nurse Joy had a pretty much full jar now, so she didn't complain about that, stuffing it in her pocket. Instead, she, not one to prolong suffering, proposed to Katelynn, "Should we let it go?"

Katelynn shook her head no. "We can't. It's a monster, so it has someone's face. We have to set the eyes free."

Luckily, Nurse Joy was a nurse, and VERY humane, so she took out a needle from a case that looked like...a regular first aid kit and she and walked up to the monster. Then, she quickly stabbed it into the bug and pushed down on the needle. Katelynn supposed it was some sort of anesthetic.

"Okay! You can do what you want now!" Nurse Joy said happily and Katelynn felt uncomfortable, knowing they probably couldn't do this for most monsters. (It didn't matter much anyway though.) She managed to produce a flame, oddly it was blue, from the tip of her wand, though not out of anger, she realized. _'Could it be I can produce flames out of awkwardness as well? The very idea is awkward in itself...'_ She walked over to the butterfly and set it ablaze. It perished in seconds and the eyes flew off, back to their owner.

"That was harder than usual..." Katelynn muttered.

She and Nurse Joy now continued their journey and Nurse Joy continued to ask questions. She told her the basic stuff, like that she wanted to defeat the Dark Lord and save the lost faces, as well as who brought Nurse Joy to Miitopia. Nurse Joy didn't seem to believe in the guardian spirit so much, as she was a woman of science though. She seemed like a very analytical person too and also not only asked what her goals were, but for her actual motives afterwards.

Katelynn merely responded with this "being what she wanted to do" most of the time, and Nurse Joy seemed kind of put off by that, like she was expecting something more for an answer, also not realizing she was making Katelynn kind of uncomfortable in the process. Still, it was good in the long run to have more help, especially a cleric. And Katelynn put aside those feelings. She was already normally awkward anyway.

"So in short, you're off to save the world? May I join you?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Of course! I could use all the help I can get! Nice to meetcha!" Katelynn said, back to her usual aloof self. Though she was still tired and felt kind of awkward around Nurse Joy. Luckily, the guardian spirit now spoke up...to both of them.

 **"Ho ho ho, so you're both still in one piece, eh? That's good. You and Nurse Joy should become good friends as you journey. It may sound cheesy, but you'll become more powerful for it! Bon Voyage!**

 **...I really shouldn't have said that... Now Katelynn won't rest until she gets those MP Bon Bon things. Oh well! Ho ho ho!"**

Katelynn did feel a bit hungry for candy after that, but would never stoop so low as to eat anything as disgustingly sweet as butterfly honey. Slime Jelly was better, and she'd eat it as soon as they found an inn. She and Nurse Joy continued walking. Nurse Joy didn't seem to question the guardian spirit's voice coming from the amulet, so Katelynn assumed she had come to a different conclusion about them. Nurse Joy found a banana on the ground and despite being hungry, she's a cautious nurse and threw it away. Luckily Katelynn still had her banana from SpongeBob and gave it to her. Nurse Joy gives her half back though, which Katelynn found to be a nice gesture even despite her previous first impressions.

They fought a couple more monsters and even acquired some goblin ham, which both of them had yet to try. Feeling they were at the end of their strength, the party of two soon stumbled upon a free inn.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note: Wow, that was a long chapter. I dunno, I couldn't really think of anywhere good to stop... Well, I hope it was still good to read, despite being a bit longer. Heh... Katelynn was a bit sad in this chapter, so there was less humor and eh, I hope it didn't feel too long...**_

 _ **Fireking492 - Thank you for continuing to read the story! I really appreciate it! :D And it was a reference to Boulevard of Broken Dreams! Glad you got it! xD I like putting references in these chapters, so I hope you continue to enjoy that and the humor!**_

 _ **Marrowfrost - Ooooh, I bet! :D And thanks for understanding about that! And yeah, your formatting can get messed up when bringing documents to fanfiction, I guess. :(**_


	6. Chapter 6 : At the Inn

Katelynn and Nurse Joy definitely welcomed the free inn, sprinting inside, cheering as well as jumping happily through the gates, like a pair of maniacs. Katelynn was tired, but not tired enough to miss out on a chance to be dramatic.

They then had a brief dinner. Katelynn just had her slime jelly and Nurse Joy had her butterfly honey for the most part. Nurse Joy only somewhat liked the small amount of slime jelly Katelynn had offered her after all, saying it wasn't sweet enough for her tastes, while Katelynn loved it above all else. But they both decided to save their shares of the goblin ham for later.

Katelynn had already cooked the ham with fire magic, -so it was probably safe to eat- during their last battle against a goblin and rock moth (Katelynn had been annoyed enough from them blocking her way to the inn to use her magic easily), and although the aroma had been tempting back then, they were already full of sweets by the end of dinner and feeling rather sick of food for the moment.

Their conversation during dinner was somewhat useful for future context. They decided to bunk in the same room from then on, until further notice, so as to not cause trouble for the owners of the inns. (Nurse Joy had pointed out that it was easier when there were more patients in each room of the Pokemon Center.)

Then, they discussed battle tactics. Katelynn told Nurse Joy that awkwardness could seemingly power her fire magic about as well as anger, and Nurse Joy seemed to smile somewhat smugly at that. Katelynn was a tad worried, but decided that was a problem for her _future self_ to worry about and then changed the subject. Talk had then moved to Nurse Joy's powers. She hadn't tried healing anyone with her stick-like staff yet, but she had expertise in medicine and was convinced the butterfly honey had magic-enhancing properties, that could work for Katelynn's powers. (She had finally accepted that some form of magic existed in Miitopia, and not just for the animals, which she still referred to as Pokémon.)

"I swear this stuff works the same as an Ether would on a Pokemon... I accidentally sprayed some Ether on myself one time and that one hand had more energy than the rest of me did for hours! This honey has a similar effect for your powers, I'm sure!"

Katelynn wasn't so sure, but now that she had finished eating for the most part, she decided to consult the guardian spirit, who had given her some MP (magic points) restoring sprinkles earlier in a canister and had been quiet since before their return.

She quickly took out the amulet from where she had placed it in her adventurer's bag while eating, then shook it and yelled, "HEY! WAKE UP!"

The amulet began to glow and she swore the eye on it may have opened just a peek. Then, the guardian spirit spoke up, sounding annoyed.

 **"NEVER DO THAT AGAIN."** They boomed, and Katelynn merely blinked in response and responded with an, "Okay!"

 **"Katelynn. What is it you want at this unGODly hour?"**

(Haha get it?... Cause' in the European version of this game, the guardian spirit is apparentally a God?..)

It really was already getting pretty late, so Katelynn decided to make it snappy.

"Uhhh...Nurse Joy basically said that honey can give you magic. Is that true?" Katelynn asked derpily, not giving much thought to her wording.

 **"..."** The guardian spirit was silent for a moment, but then replied somewhat awkwardly.

 **"Well! Seeing as I am an all-powerful guardian spirit, I have no need for sustenance! However... Yes. And certain other foods can enhance certain abilities as well. Ho ho!"**

"Ah had no idea." Katelynn said in a bad southern accent for some odd reason.

 **"Any MORE questions?"** The guardian spirit inquired, with an edge of humor in their voice.

"Aye, mi bucko!" Katelynn said now in a cringeworthy cross between a pirate and a leprechaun, at least, that's what _she_ thought it was. Though no one will ever be able to say for sure. _That's a fact._

"What does slime jelly do?" Katelynn asked, addressing her concerns that it was useless.

 **"It boosts your HP."** The guardian replied.

"Oh." Katelynn said. Her...hit points? Great. So she'd be the one taking the hits then... But it would be worth it. For slime jel-

 **"I strongly advise that you eat other things though. Or your health in battle won't be the only thing taking hits. It'll also be...your actual health. (That's definitely too much sugar for one mii-person. I cannot even fathom how you do it.) And well, you could use the magic boost from foods. Your fire magic attempts were...puny, to say the least."**

"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!" Katelynn said with an eyeroll. Though she knew the guardian spirit was right. Still, at least she didn't have to worry about eating more right now. She actually already felt kinda sick...

"Oof..." Katelynn suddenly said, as if on cue, looking green. Then, she ran out of the room, clearly heading to the bathroom.

That left Nurse Joy and the guardian spirit's amulet alone in the kitchen.

 **"Soo...I should most certainly be on my way, now that Katelynn's-"**

"Wait a moment." Nurse joy replied with an almost evil, analytical look as she...began her questioning.

* * *

Author's note: So! That was a short little chapter at the inn... I dunno if it was interesting enough. I tried to add a few more jokes this time though. I'm probably not gonna show the conversation between Nurse Joy and the guardian spirit. Just know that she doesn't quite trust **them**. Also I'm gonna rename the chapters...

Fireking492 - Thank you so much for the feedback! ;D I'm glad you have a great sense of humor! xD I don't think I added enough references in this chapter, but I hope you enjoyed the jokes for now! :)


	7. Chapter 7 : Even More Heroic Triumphs

The next morning, Nurse Joy woke up first, as she was used to waking up early for work. By the time she had brushed her teeth, (her first-aid kit contained more than just first-aid stuff, it seemed) Katelynn was still snoring away peacefully in her own bed and Nurse Joy decided to wake her up, remembering how awkwardness could fuel her magic, she decided to create the perfect awkward situation for Katelynn.

"There isn't any SHAYMIN what I'm about to do." Nurse Joy told herself, and inside she was giddy with fiendish glee.

Nurse Joy now opened her first aid kit and...took out a small defibrillator.

Next, she turned Katelynn over. -She was a heavy sleeper, so she didn't notice a thing and merely muttered something that sounded like "piggywiggies" under her breath.

Then, with an electrical CRACKLE, Nurse Joy gave her an electric shock worthy of Ash's Pikachu when they first met.

Katelynn screamed, no she howled in utter shock, literally. Her long brown hair flew up in the air as she began to let out her own electricity. Even as Nurse Joy began to back away, Katelynn managed to shock her back with a burst of her own electrical magic. Compared to the defibrillator, Nurse Joy had experienced a much more powerful burst of electricity and was now fried, HP low.

Utterly frazzled, Katelynn now blinked after her outburst, wondering what had just happened. There weren't any enemies, so...

She now looked at Nurse Joy, who was sitting on the floor and looked and smelled like fried bacon. Her defibrillator was now on the floor as well. Katelynn wasn't sure what the device was, but knew Nurse Joy had something to do with this whole situation in general.

"Wh-what just happened?" Katelynn suddenly posed the question and Nurse Joy, whose brain was fried, merely sat there.

"You shocked me." She simply said, and Katelynn felt a pang of guilt, not knowing that Nurse Joy had shocked her first and merely thinking her own powers had shocked her as well.

"Sorry!" Katelynn squeaked. She hadn't meant to shock Nurse Joy if she'd just been trying to wake her up.

Nurse Joy smiled. Katelynn didn't notice, but it was a dark sort of smile. She had gotten away with her little prank.

"It's okay, Katelynn. Shall we get ready now?" Nurse Joy asked with a disgustingly sweet expression.

"Sounds good to me!" Katelynn exclaimed, hair still flowing with electricity.

They got ready and ate breakfast. Then, they were set to go.

They exited the front gates of the inn and got moving, continuing forward through the Greenhorne area. After walking for a while, they encountered a Goblin and Rock Moth once more.

"This should be easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy!" Katelynn cheered.

"If you say so." Nurse Joy replied, knowing she hadn't really gotten the hang of her healing powers yet.

 **Turn 1: Katelynn had meant to attack the goblin, but in her airheaded stupor (she had been singing a oddly fitting tune, -fueling her awkwardness- to herself at the same time), instead burned the Rock Moth to a crisp with a ring of fire magic.**

 **~YOU fell into a burning ring of fire. YOU went down, down, down and the flames went higher.~ Katelynn continued to sing. The goblin simply looked terrified.**

 **Nurse Joy wielded her staff against the goblin, bonking it on the head. The goblin recoiled at the hit.**

 **The goblin then attacked Nurse Joy with a light swipe of its claw-like hand. (It must have decided that Nurse Joy was the weak link after she didn't use her powers on it.) Nurse Joy luckily backed off before it could damage her seriously.**

 **Turn 2: Katelynn decided not to use her magic this time since MP was limited. Even with MP sprinkles, they'd have to last this entire trip, until they found another hotel. Instead, Katelynn kindly took out an HP banana she received from the mayor and handed it to Nurse Joy, who was only slightly damaged, but gladly took it with a small mutter of thanks.**

 **Nurse Joy spent her turn eating the HP banana. She was shoving the last piece in her mouth when the goblin tried to pounce at her again. Luckily Katelynn had actually been paying some attention to the goblin's antics after last time and pushed her out of the way, prepared to take the hit.**

 **The goblin was about to strike Katelynn after she pushed Nurse Joy out of the way, when Nurse Joy did the only thing she could think of. She threw the HP banana peel in her right hand straight in front of the goblin. The goblin was suddenly faced with bigger problems as it ran towards Katelynn and...abruptly slipped on the peel.**

 _ **Goblin tripped.**_

 **Turn 3: Katelynn and Nurse Joy each took this opportunity to end this Goblin's existence. As soon as it tripped, they ran up to it and began to hit it on the head with their respective weapons...until, finally, it disappeared and with that, its face was returned to its owner. They didn't take any honey from the charred butterfly and they hadn't cooked the goblin, so no extra ham either. Oh well, at least they got coins... And with that, the battle ended.**

"Holy hot dog, that was amazing!" Katelynn exclaimed and Nurse Joy felt smug with pride.

Nurse Joy certainly felt stronger after this battle. Sure, she may not have learned any healing magic yet, but she had gotten stronger by just fighting the horrid beasts here in Miitopia with her wooden stick-staff. She guessed it would only be a matter of time before she found out what would trigger her magic. Just as Katelynn's was powered by extreme emotions, like anger and pure awkwardness, she knew she could likely similarly power hers. It was the logical explanation, after all.

They soon continued walking, talking and generally, with occassionly hearing Katelynn's tunes she had picked up while travelling, rocking.

Soon, they reached an empty clearing and instantly something felt wrong. A butterfly, bigger than any rock moth they had seen, appeared out of nowhere, taking on Homer's face. With a scary gleam in Homer's eyes, the butterfly began a battle with them.

 **Turn 1: Katelynn felt somewhat intimidated by this gargantuan bug. She had gotten sort of used to the Rock moths, but this creepy crawly had a lavender, almost see through texture to it and was...nasty to her, to say the least.**

 **Nurse Joy attempted to change the mood, noting that Katelynn hadn't attacked yet, despite the fight having been initiated. She tried to make the situation uncomfortable to help her.**

 **"Hey Katelynn, I bet that** _ **this**_ **butterfly's honey tastes** _ **much**_ **better than slime jelly!" Nurse Joy said with an evil smile that could rival the Grinch.**

 **Katelynn woke up mentally at that and yelled, "YOU'D BE WRONG!" Defending her favorite food, she ran toward the monster butterfly, -a little TOO close- and shot a flame ball at it.**

 **Upon impact, the butterfly made an icky-buggy-spazzing-out noise with its wings (that's how Katelynn would describe it) and flew over her, covering Katelynn with honey, before returning back to its postion in front of them.**

 **"EW EW EW, it's so sweet and sticky!"**

 _ **Katelynn's speed, defense and attack dropped.**_

 **Turn 2: With Katelynn preoccupied, Nurse Joy took the initiative. She quickly ran up to the butterfly and hit it with her staff. The butterfly screeched and went for Katelynn again, sensing her weakness. It flew past Katelynn again, who was immobile enough that when it flew past her, it cut her arm with its wing, creating a thin, but somewhat long gash and upon turning back, managed to cut through her witch hat as well as Katelynn ducked slightly. Luckily, she wasn't hurt that badly, but still...**

 **Nurse Joy felt a feeling that she only felt when she saw Pokémon or anyone for that matter, physically hurt. She would never admit it, but she generally lacked empathy when it came to any other kind of hurt, simply seeing it as a weakness in herself and often in others. Physical pain though... It made her uncomfortable. Now she was the one who felt awkward. No, that wasn't it. She felt...sympathy for the poor soul (who was Katelynn).**

 **Turn 3: Nurse Joy felt her staff begin to glow and instantly knew what to do. She turned towards Katelynn and hoped for Katelynn's speedy recovery, basically praying for it.**

 **Instantly, the gash in Katelynn's arm, sealed up, though her sleeve didn't. The butterfly honey covering Katelynn disappeared to, fixing her lowered stats. Nurse Joy assumed that the butterfly honey she ate was different somehow when the monster it came from was defeated. Katelynn smiled at Nurse Joy and with a small "thanks", sent fire at the monster again. She was mad at herself for letting it hurt her anger was able to manifest in a flame, leading them to victory.**

 **The butterfly exploded into a lot of purple honey, which Katelynn gladly collected for Nurse Joy after Homer's face departed the scene. They would have to return to Greenhorne later, when they had collected some more faces of the townsfolk, to see how they were doing. They collected some more gold as well.**

"Thanks a bunch Nurse Joy! Seems you're really learning to use your powers!" Katelynn beamed.

"Don't mention it. I had to help you. We are friends after all." Nurse Joy smirked, returning some sentimental stuff.

"Friends? I don't think... I haven't really ever had any before." Katelynn muttered.

Nurse Joy rolled her eyes and with that same smirk, replied, a little uncomfortable at seeing Katelynn's vulnerability, "Well, get used to it! We are sharing a room, you know!"

Katelynn smiled fully once more, "Yeah! Let's get back to an inn. I need some new clothes, heh."

Nurse Joy deadpanned, back to her unsympathetic self. "Okay, you can use some of our money, but only if you get me a new staff. "

"Fair enough."

They found an inn soon enough, and although they were there a bit earlier than last time, they were exhausted enough to call it a night after eating, doing a few things and stocking up on some new items.

The next day, they woke up bright and early, making it through more of the Greenhorne area and making progress quite swiftly, despite the monsters in their way. They had to use their sprinkles for the day a little, with the guardian spirit explaining about them a bit. But the highlight of that day was a fork in the path with signs that were marked as the "easy" and "tough" paths. They took the easy path of course.

The day after that, at an inn, as they were getting ready to leave, Katelynn and Nurse Joy suddenly heard a doorbell ring. They assumed it was for their particular room at the inn.

 **"Ho ho! Seems you've got company!"** The guardian spirit suddenly exclaimed from Katelynn's amulet.

"Who the heck is it?" Katelynn's eyes widened in surprise.

 **"It's a new adventurer who felt they had no more purpose in life...or well, death. You'll see! Anyway, defeating the Dark Lord would be difficult with just the two of you. You can use all the help you can get, ho ho ho! Be ready with a warm welcome."**

Katelynn nodded. That was pretty true, she supposed.

Without further hesitation, she then opened the door to find...

* * *

Author's Note: Hope you guys liked this chapter! Next time we meet the third party member and... the Great Sage! :D

Fireking492 - Thanks as usual for the feedback! I'm glad you liked the last chapter's humor! I added a reference to a song in this one... And no worries about not signing in! I can tell from your guest name that it's you at least. xD


	8. Chapter 8 : 3rd Member & The Great Sage

**Author's Note: Soooooo, here's another chapter! Only like... 3 days after! xD I'm on a streak here! Also, if there are songs and characters used in my stories that I don't own, I'm not saying I own any rights to those! I put a disclaimer on my profile page already though.**

 **Fireking492 - Thanks for saying that! I try to make it funny! :)**

* * *

Katelynn opened the door to find... A mii. A very strange looking one. It seemed to be some sort of turtle, with the way his (she assumed it was a male mii, since its shirt was shorter) mouth was curved. He was extremely pale. But it was especially creepy how he had tinted red sunglasses for eyes.

"Clickity clackity, your enemies' bones shall go crackity!" Those were the strange mii's first words to Katelynn. And the worst part was, his voice was rather grating on the ears.

"Um..." To say Katelynn was weirded out would be a severe understatement. This guy...turtle thing seemed like he was on their side at least though.

"Crickity Crackity, you're a _case_ that seems very _basket-y_." The turtle creature mii continued, seeming like they were trying to be condescending towards Katelynn. Katelynn frowned and her eyebrows were pinched like she was confused, but she decided to attempt to be friendly. That's what the guardian spirit suggested after all.

"Erm...I'm Katelynn. What's your name?" She inquired nervously and the oddball was happy to reply to that.

"I'm Dry Bones. With me on your team, we shall hear your foe's moans." He put his hands together, one hand punching the other, which Katelynn took as a threatening gesture.

"Seems like you're getting a bit ahead of yourself, but I'll take it." She smiled. She noticed that Dry Bones appeared to be just a regular mii with no current job... As if in response to her thoughts, the guardian spoke up.

 **"Are you ready to choose a job, Dry Bones?"** They inquired, and a familiar holographic screen appeared in front of Dry Bones. Dry Bones had not even an ounce of hesitation before choosing the warrior job, which was also the first one on the screen.

"I merely wish to fight, to test my might, and for what is right!" Dry Bones exclaimed and with a somewhat anticlimactic poof of smoke, was turned into a warrior, wearing basic looking armor that resembled a knight and wielding a wooden sword.

"Why's his sword so boring?" Katelynn asked suddenly.

 **"You can purchase a better one, if need be. Be sure to play nice and make Dry Bones feel welcome."** The guardian replied, and that was the end of that discussion.

 **"Hmm... I thought I called one more companion. I wonder what happened."**

Katelynn wondered if it was harder for the guardian spirit to contact that mii-person without them having the amulet.

 **"That is indeed the case, Katelynn. Well, I'm sure you'll get everyone together eventually anyway. For now, you're a party of three! Ho ho!~"** Then, without so much as a goodbye, the guardian left the scene.

Nurse Joy rushed up to Katelynn and Dry Bones and began to question Katelynn immediately, not even caring that she was leaving out Dry Bones.

"What was that just about? You didn't even say anything, Katelynn. Can the guardian read your thoughts?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Um...yeah. But I don't really mind, honestly!" Katelynn replied to her cheerfully, and fully trusting. After all, the guardian had only ever helped her. And her thoughts were usually pretty dumb anyway.

Nurse Joy shook her head. "Katelynn, I think you should take off that amulet." Katelynn was about to protest, when Nurse Joy spoke up again, "Hear me out. We can still keep it nearby for any help we may need on our quest, but the guardian won't be able to stalk you as closely anymore, if you know what I mean."

"O-okay..." Katelynn stuttered, but decided that Nurse Joy was right. She really was entitled to her privacy, after all. She took off the amulet, which she had practically never taken off, except maybe when she went to sleep or was eating, and put it in her adventurer's bag. She hadn't really noticed before, but there really was a sense of comfort about it that she might miss now.

Maybe it's because when she was asleep, it was still on her nightstand. All the same, it would still be close now. Just with all her stuff, in her bag.

Dry Bones suddenly spoke up, speaking to Nurse Joy. He signalled at his throat with a cutting motion. "Cut me off once more, and it shall mean war."

Nurse Joy glared at him and responded, "I answer to no one. Except maybe a doctor."

With the tension burning between the two, Katelynn knew she had to break it up.

"Hey! Guys! Stop fighting! Lets go eat breakfast!" Katelynn yelled with as kind and glowy of a smile as she could muster.

The two stopped glaring, but both of them looked away from each other, folding their arms in contempt. Katelynn went between them and hesitantly pulled them by the arms to the dining room of the inn.

They ate breakfast in relative silence, except for some slurping and food smacking noises. (Lucky for them, Katelynn soon found that Dry Bones immensely enjoyed Goblin Ham, which neither her nor Nurse Joy really cared for after trying it the last night.) Then, they set off once more, on their quest.

They walked in a near silence at first. But then Katelynn began to sing once more, trying to cheer them all up.

 **When you're rife with devastation**

 **There's a simple explanation:**

 **You're a toymaker's creation,**

 **Trapped inside a crystal ball.**

 **And whichever way he tilts it,**

 **Know that we must be resilient,**

 **We won't let them break our spirits!**

 **As we sing our silly song...~**

It didn't really work at first, but by the end of it, Nurse Joy spoke up. "Katelynn, that was a pretty sad song, wasn't it?"

Katelynn thought about it for a moment, "Well yeah, but I guess us miis...Really are just a toymaker's creation if you think about it. What I mean is, miis like us all know they're either copies of some other being who they act as, or just oddball creations with different characteristics. All the same, we're all equal. We're a pretty simple folk, and despite our origins, we get along, right? We play into the roles we were made for?"

Nurse Joy shook her head. "I never really believed that. We should all be free to be individuals. Not just someone's creation who plays by their rules. Even if we are created with the knowledge that we're supposed to."

"Is that why you're not exactly a...a gentle nurse?" Katelynn tentatively asked her friend, with an edge of humor.

"Kinda. But well, I think it also has something to do with the fact that even the Nurse Joy I'm based off of had a lot of cousins and relatives who looked like her, and strived to be unique." Nurse Joy replied.

"Dry Bones also had a lot of co-workers. They were all just dark-lurkers." Dry Bones spoke up, sounding solemn.

"See? You two have something in common! You both don't like your origins!" Katelynn exclaimed. But just as they were both beginning to perhaps realize something, two goblins jumped out at them.

"More goblin meat, what a treat!" Dry Bones yelled, and rushed into battle, starting a fight.

 **Turn 1: Katelynn decided to try something new and attempted to use electricity magic, which she seemed to have the hang of after feeling the defribilator's nasty and shocking bite last time, not that she knew that. She ended up frying both goblins to half of their health with her lightning.**

 **Dry Bones didn't feel like waiting for Nurse Joy and rushed even closer to the goblins, bonking one of them on the head a few times. The other one slashed at him, abruptly stopping his attack and injuring his skinny mii arm. He rushed back to the rest of the party, who seemed a bit annoyed with him.**

 **Nurse Joy held out her new staff. She wouldn't admit it, but she felt just a bit of pity for Dry Bones getting hurt.** _ **Cautious quirk:**_ **"Be more careful next time," she said as she healed him fully with a prayer, despite not feeling that bad.**

 **The one goblin that had half health left the other one behind for a moment and attempted to attack them, or more specifically, Dry Bones. Annoyed that he had to be healed, Dry Bones slashed at the goblin, but since he didn't have a metal sword, merely bonked it on the head again. The goblin retreated back to its friend.**

 **Turn 2: Katelynn decided not to waste MP since her electricity attack had taken a lot of it. She instead waited for the others to attack, having better physical weapons. The airheaded, but kind mage rested for a turn, recovering MP.**

 **Nurse Joy and Dry Bones finished the fight together by hitting each goblin with their respective weapons, a staff and a wooden sword, pretty similar in strength at the moment, seeing how Nurse Joy's staff was shiny wood as well.**

"Nice job," Nurse Joy said to Dry Bones, with a smirk. It was halfway sarcastic though, since she knew she had done most of the work by healing him after his careless first attack.

"You may be a cleric, but you are rather barbaric." Dry Bones replied, seemingly picking up on her sarcasm and replying with his own double-edged sword of a comment. Being barbaric could be good in a fight, but personality-wise...that was rather insulting.

The two seemed like they were acting rather hostile towards each other, when suddenly Katelynn came between them again, having picked up all the best stuff they'd recieved from the fight.

"Let's continue forward, you two!" Katelynn grinned, unaware they had been in as hostile of a situation as they were. "You both did a great job at the end there!"

Dry Bones and Nurse Joy simply "hmmphed" at each other and the trio continued walking forward. Katelynn continued singing until they reached another inn. However... the day was still rather young, so they decided to continue forth.

The trio didn't encounter anything eventful, that is, until they reached an empty kind of area, with some rocks on the sides. It felt like something was wrong to Katelynn right away, and she was looking around apprehensively, when her suspicions were confirmed. From behind the rocks, the Dark Lord appeared in front of them.

"Waaaaa? Well, look who it is! You just keep sticking around, like a grass stain on soccer socks!" The Dark Lord, Waluigi sneered.

"Waluigi! You jerk!" Katelynn yelled, visibly angry. It wasn't the comment that annoyed her, but the wicked deeds this mii had committed. How could he hurt so many people like this by stealing their faces? She had to do something, no matter how strong he was, she couldn't let him escape and get away with more crimes against Miitopia and its people again.

"Get rekt, Waluigi!" Katelynn pulled out her wand, ready to fire a blast of magic.

"WAAAAHAAAAHAAAA! That was a great one! Where'd you get that? Some shooter game that only little kids actually play?"

While it was true that "get rekt" was a bit childish, Waluigi seemed to find it genuinely funny that she'd tried to defy him in any way. That caused her anger to flourish further as her cheeks turned red. Before she had a chance to prepare herself, Waluigi was speaking again however.

"Well, if you insist on ending your life, I could be of assistance. Let's dance!" Waluigi stated coldly, as he began to ready a dark ball of shadow-like magic. It grew bigger and bigger until it was bigger than Katelynn and suddenly, all thoughts of attacking seemed absolutely futile.

"Eep!" Katelynn squeaked, as she began to cower in fear at sight, closing her eyes and bracing herself for an impact that would never come. She couldn't even bear to look at her party members at this point.

"Hold it right there!" A voice emerged out of nowhere, and a green glow seemed to take over the Dark Lord's orb of shadow, along with green bolts of lightning-like magic. It fizzled and cracked, before finally, it all disappeared completely in a flash.

"Who dares...? The Dark Lord began, baffled, and Katelynn turned to look at the source of the magic and voice.

A young man with somewhat messy black hair, tannish skin and striking golden eyes was standing there. What was most peculiar about him though, were his clothes. They seemed similar to Katelynn's in that they were mage clothing, but he wore a white robe with green trim. He also had a silver staff with an emerald at the top. He must've been a powerful mage, but he still looked rather young, despite that. He seemed perfectly relaxed, but what he said next would say otherwise.

"Hmm...So you're the Dark Lord, huh? I've heard a lot about you, but looks like it was just talk. You won't be getting your way for much longer! Not if I have anything to say about it!"

A powerful green kind of aura of magic began to surround him. He now ran in front of Katelynn, shielding her from any further attacks.

"Don't you know that nobody likes a party pooper? Wah! You're just like those people from Super Smash Bros; not letting me in!" Waluigi seemed to lament for a moment, before showing his intent. He was clearly at least a little intimidated by this mage. And that was saying something to Katelynn, seeing as he was the greatest terror in this land right now.

"Waaaah... I'll let you go for now! Be seeing you!" And with that, the Dark Lord teleported away into his cape.

"Ohmigosh." Katelynn said to herself with wide eyes. That encounter had been scary and she had feared for her life or at least her face, to say the least. She snapped out of it and wondered if the strange mage had heard her as he turned to face her.

"How do you do?" The mage asked coolly. _'Cool wouldn't even begin to describe him though,'_ Katelynn thought to herself and stayed silent, simply opting to stare at him.

"They call me Emile. I'm a travelling mage." He continued, with a smirk that said he knew she was staring and _'oh gosh-I should stop,'_ Katelynn told herself again. She backed away a bit, looking down at the ground in front of her.

"I-I- um... I'm Katelynn," she said shyly. What was wrong with her? She was never usually this shy. Did she-have a...crush? She felt her cheeks getting hot too. Ah! Everything was going wrong! But, she supposed she should tell him why she was fighting the Dark Lord...

"I wasn't doing anything reckless, I swear!" Katelynn suddenly exclaimed, clearly embarrassed and worried Emile wouldn't give her a chance to explain properly. Unbeknownst to her, the mage merely remarked her with amusement and thought she was just embarrassed by her loss against the Dark Lord, not thinking much more of it.

"Oh? Is that so? Well, tell me, why were you fighting the Dark Lord then?" Emile smirked, amusement evident in his tone. Katelynn found it-amazing... how he could change from so serious to so friendly in a matter of moments. Did that mean... He didn't hate her for almost getting herself hurt?

"Me and my friends are-are going to defeat him someday! I may be weak now, but I'm trying my best to get stronger!" Katelynn exclaimed again, trying to assure them both of these facts.

Luckily the mage, Emile, didn't seem too bothered by her statement. "So you're on a quest to defeat the Dark Lord?"

"Y-yeah, but..." Katelynn began, less confident now. She almost got destroyed back there. If it hadn't been for Emile, she would be badly hurt. Could she really get stronger?

"But you feel you're not quite strong enough?" Emile asked. Katelynn finally looked up and as her boring, gray eyes met his...golden ones, it was hard for her to look away. This mage had a wise and knowing air about him, one that was intense to her.

"..." She couldn't even say anything at this point.

"I sense potential within you, though. You might not think it's much at the moment, but continue your journey and you'll grow and grow."

Katelynn nodded, snapping out of her stupor and feeling more sure of herself. He was right. She had already learned two types of magic perfectly! Something she couldn't even do less than a week ago! Surely she had some potential as a mage... And her friends had grown stronger too.

"So just hang in there, Katelynn," Emile said, with a genuine smile at her and Katelynn forced herself to just accept the sentiment.

"I can do that," she replied cheerfully.

"If fortune is on our side, we'll meet again, Katelynn. Until then."

 _'I hope so...'_ Katelynn thought to herself, too enamoured to actually say anything. She simply watched as Emile departed, content to do so. That is, until her party members reminded her of their existence.


End file.
